Vocabulary Notes
February 15, 2010
Using Discourse Analysis to Improve Classroom Interaction
Rex and Schiller
Chapters One to Seven
Chapter One:
Framing: A frame is a theory. It is a way of categorizing and seeing the
world. What sense we make of a particular situation depends upon our frame
of reference. Framing allows certain interpretations and rules out others.
Reframing: To offer a different or competing interpretation of events, a
different angle previously not considered.
Discourse: A discourse is a way a particular group of people interact with
one another. Think of a discourse as socially communicative practices. How
we talk, look, gesture? How do we think? How do we write? What we know
or do or say is constrained by the numerous discourse groups that influence
and are influenced by our participation.
Discourse Analysis: The study of spoken, naturally occurring speech or
communication.
Positioning: Through conversation, people situate themselves and other
with particular rights and obligations. Speakers take up or resist positions
other create for them.
Have you ever used the phrase, “Your putting me in an awkward position”?
Chapter Two:
Freeze Frame: (1) A still picture in the course of a movie or television film,
made by running a series of identical frames or by stopping a reel or
videotape at one desired frame. (2) A vivid, motionless scene or image.
Transcripts: Written representations of spoken language.
Assumption: A proposition or belief that is taken for granted and treated as
true.
Vocabulary Notes
February 15, 2010
Frame Clash: When your experience runs counter to your expectation.
Context: Context can be a social condition as well as a physical space. The
classroom context can be a site of resistance to learning or a community of
learners. A family’s home can be a context for affections and mutual support
of a context for competition and isolation. Contexts vary depending on the
circumstances and the people involved.
Chapter Three:
Identity: How individuals label themselves as members of particular
groups.
Choosing: Being aware of student identities and responding to those
identities requires self-reflection. We choose ways to use language that
recognize identities and selves in order to engage and affirm learners,
particularly those who are most reluctant.
Identity Kits: Multiple ways of dressing, gesturing, walking, speaking,
writing, laughing, etc. comprise each person different identities in different
situations.
Chapter Four:
Worlds: Through talking, we bring our worlds into existence. My world and
your world may or may not be the same. Teachers may never know a
student’s worlds. We must listen well to hear how students represent their
worlds so that we are able to respond in meaningful ways.
Utterance: A natural unit of speech bounded by breaths or pauses.
Chapter Five:
Interdiscursivity: Discourses do not stand alone. They intersect, overlap,
and intertwine. Further, discourses operate in relation to or in opposition to
other discourses.
Interactants: The people involved in a conversation.
Vocabulary Notes
February 15, 2010
Chapter Six:
Power: The probability that someone will be able to carry out his or her will
though there may be resistance.
Stance: Assuming a position or a point of view. In this case, students were
learning how to take different stances related to their reading.
Self-efficacy: The belief that one is capable and has the power to produce a
desired result.
Agentive: When a person takes action(s) regardless of outside constraints.
Circulating Power: Learner’s power in support of their learning may be
thought of as independence, ownership, and self-efficacy. Power is not a
possession. It circulates within the social conditions in which a person is
acting. It’s movement of energy between teachers and learners who are
working together. Interest, focus, persistence, awareness, engagement, and
enthusiasm are essential energy generators that keep learning going. Interest
and self-efficacy, and therefore learning of individual students and teachers,
require continual refreshing.
Social Stability: Social stability exists in classrooms, when collective
identity and knowledge co-construction lead to a sense of community in
which everyone feels powerful in relation to each other.
Saving Face: Protecting someone’s view of himself or herself so they are not
embarrassed or diminished in any way.
Repair: If we notice that we’ve made someone uncomfortable by something
we’ve said, we will repair the situation by saying whatever we think will be
best to help the person re-experience social respect.
Face Threat: An utterance or move that threatens a person’s sense of
herself and diminishes her status.
Status: The relative position or standing of persons in a social group.
Vocabulary Notes
February 15, 2010
Chapter Seven:
Genuine Questions: Sincere questions teachers or students want to pursue
as opposed to questions the teacher asks to determine who knows the correct
answer.
Tracking: Sorting and separating students into classes by ability. Tracking
is often found in high schools which can include Advanced Placement
classes, high, average, and low ability classes as well as special education
classes across a range of academic subjects. In most contexts, once a student
is assigned to one track, it is difficult to move to a higher level of course
work.